China's Communist Party and Lost Legitimacy

Fri, 06/29/2012 - 12:40 EDT - Forbes.com - Top Stories

Last week two Western ?China hands? reviewed the state of anxiety on the mainland in a forum at the Asia Society in . Although there?s good reason to be anxious about economic matters, what with China?s manufacturing slowing and the banking sector debt still a mystery, what Harvard?s Rod MacFarquhar and the Journal?s Ian Johnson ...

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BEIJING: China is set to name Liu He, a Harvard-trained economist who advises President Xi Jinping, as a vice premier overseeing the economy and financial sector, five sources familiar with the development said.Liu's promotion would be part of a wider government reshuffle following the 19th Communist Party Congress in October last year, during which Xi laid out his vision for China's long-term development, and elevated his key allies.At the congress, 66-year old Liu - a trusted confidant of Xi and his top adviser on economic policies - was elected into the 25-member Politburo, the second-highe

BEIJING — Western values are a “ticket to hell,” a newspaper published by China’s Communist Party said in a recent editorial that held up Ukraine and some Arab countries as examples of outside ideas causing turmoil.
It was the latest colorful example of a rising level of invective targeting critics of the authoritarian government. In the two-plus years since President Xi Jinping took the helm of the ruling Communist Party, state media have become more strident in defending the one-party system and stoking nationalism.

VANCOUVER — Frank Huang was a Chinese communist. He joined the Communist Party of China voluntarily in 1991 after being assigned a government job in Guangdong that had him arranging visits and tours for Chinese expatriates. Mr. Huang is now the B.C. NDP candidate in Richmond Centre, a suburban Vancouver riding with a large Asian population. He says he decided to compete in the B.C. election to better serve his adopted country and province. “I love Canada,” says the 49-year-old.

BEIJING — Almost exactly five years ago, a newly anointed President Xi Jinping met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and declared they shared similar “personalities.”
The comments, reported by the Kremlin news service but not by Chinese state media, went largely unnoticed at the time. But on Sunday, the parallels between the two leaders were too stark to ignore.
China’s Communist Party is to abolish a two-term limit on the presidency, state media announced, potentially opening the door for Xi to rule for life.

When Liu He takes to the lectern in Davos, the Harvard-educated technocrat will move further into the spotlight that's been aimed at him since his elevation to China's top political body last year. A key adviser to President Xi Jinping, Liu is China's representative to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting this week.

Rain, like the downpours that have inundated Shanghai in recent weeks, doesn’t buoy the spirits. But don’t despair, counseled the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, on Monday: “Rainbows always appear after rains.”
That upbeat message coursed through China’s state media on Monday, referring to the dismal performance of the nation’s bourses, including the Shanghai Composite Index, which has lost nearly 30% over the past three weeks.

Rain, like the downpours that have inundated Shanghai in recent weeks, doesn’t buoy the spirits. But don’t despair, counseled the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, on Monday: “Rainbows always appear after rains.”
That upbeat message coursed through China’s state media on Monday, referring to the dismal performance of the nation’s bourses, including the Shanghai Composite Index, which has lost nearly 30% over the past three weeks.

BEIJING (AP) — China's slump is shaking the world economy, turning a country long seen as a growth engine into a possible threat.The slowdown started as a side effect of the Communist Party's plan to steer the world's second-largest economy to a "new normal" of lower, steadier growth. It has turned into a nose dive the party is struggling to reverse.The party's plans call for keeping economic growth close to 7 percent this year while China shifts from reliance on trade and investment to more self-sustaining growth based on domestic consumption.